Another Is Home from Korea

The remains of a soldier missing since Korea were identified earlier this year.  Regrettably, I missed that fact at the time and did not note it here at TAH.

PFC Weldon A. Davis, B Battery, 38th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, US Army, formerly of Tioga, TX, was lost during operations against Chines Communist forces south of the Ch’ongch’on River, North Korea, on 30 November 1950.  He was last seen in the vicinity of Somindong, North Korea.

US POWs released in 1953 during “Operation Big Switch” reported that PFC Davis had in fact been captured alive, but had died in captivity in January 1951 of malnutrition and pneumonia.  PFC Davis’ remains were not among those returned to US custody after the war.

Excavation in 2005 by a joint US-North Korean team at a secondary burial site in Unsan County, North Korea, discovered human remains.  These remains were returned to US control and repatriated.  Modern forensic techniques and circumstantial evidence positively identified the remains as those of PFC Davis in January of this year.

Rest in peace, my elder brother-in-arms.  Welcome home at last.

. . .

Over 73,600 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,900 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,640 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.  If you are a relative of one of the individuals listed here (World War II – critical need), listed here (Korea), or listed here (Southeast Asia) – please read this link to see if you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample.

If you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample, please submit one.  By submitting a mtDNA sample you may be able to help identify US remains that have been recovered and repatriated but not yet positively identified.

Everybody deserves a proper burial.  That’s especially true for those who gave all in the service of this nation.

Category: No Longer Missing